Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch PM! There's a lot going on this afternoon, so let's dig in: Spotify is taking its app in a new direction, and we look at a host of new gadgets from Samsung. And for all of you keeping up with the price of Bitcoin, learn how Anthony Pompliano came to be the "face of crypto."

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Spotify

Spotify is singing a new tune: With a bevy of new features, including the ability to comment on podcast episodes, Spotify's app is shaping up to be a social network centered around all things audio, not just a music-streaming app. Could commenting on music artist pages be next? Read more

Ding, dong. The Samsung Galaxy Ring is here: You can now preorder the Galaxy Ring, Samsung's first smart ring, for $399 and get it starting July 24. The ring will begin with sleep metrics, but with the way artificial intelligence is going, no doubt other features won't be far behind. Read more

Who is Anthony Pompliano? He's the same tie-wearing, same podcast intro-saying believer in Bitcoin, and yet so much more. Read more

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: BRITTA PEDERSEN/POOL/AFP / Getty Images

Elon Musk is enjoying this one: Remember when Elon Musk was named in several lawsuits after he fired over 6,000 Twitter employees? A judge ruled this week on one of them: that he doesn't have to pay them any more severance. Read more

Samsung three-fer

📱 In addition to the Galaxy Ring, Samsung unveiled the latest versions of its Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. Read more

🎧 For your ear pleasure, there's also the new Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3. Read more

💫 And all of these are outfitted with Google Gemini features. Read more

New fund alert: After securing $14 million for its second fund in 2023, early-stage VC firm Kearny Jackson is back with a third fund. This time the firm is bringing in $65 million in capital commitments, including from a number of first-time institutional funds. Read more

Microsoft doesn't want you to open this email: Months after Microsoft confirmed that Russian government hackers broke into its systems with the goal of stealing various kinds of information, including data on Microsoft customers, the company is still in the process of notifying affected customers. The problem? Some experts say the notification emails themselves look like phishing attempts. Read more

AWS street cred: Amazon Web Services' App Studio promises to help you create an enterprise software application from a written prompt. That's correct: You simply describe the program you want, and AWS says it will write the code for you without the need for any professional developers. Read more

Meta lets kids be kids: Users ages 10 to 12 will soon be able to interact with others in VR if they have their parents' approval to do so. Up until now, children were not able to chat or interact with other users on Quest. Read more

Microsoft reaches agreement with EU: The deal between the technology giant and the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe includes Microsoft making changes to comply with antitrust complaints. The complaints alleged that Microsoft was using its market dominance in the business software realm to tether customers to its Azure cloud. Read more

Instagram focuses on short-form content: If a Reel makes you laugh, the chances of you sharing it with your friends is good. And that's what Instagram head Adam Mosseri thinks is the key to helping people better connect with their friends and helping users explore their interests. Read more

Creator comforts: Vimeo joins TikTok, YouTube and Meta in implementing a way for creators to label AI-generated content. The video hosting service announced on Wednesday that creators must now disclose to viewers when realistic content is created with AI. Read more

TechCrunch Minute

Image Credits: Getty Images / MirageC

The FTC bans anonymous social app NGL from serving minors: The FTC is banning NGL from serving minors or advertising to them, marking the first time that the government agency has taken this sort of action against an app. If you remember, NGL was supposed to be different. It even advertised that its AI could filter out cyberbullying. Now the FTC alleges that these claims around AI content moderation are deceptive. So what does this mean for the future of anonymous question apps? Hit play and let's chat!

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Around the web 🌐

Intuit reorganizes: Which means there are some layoffs — 1,800 of them, according to The Associated Press. The parent company of QuickBooks and TurboTax says these particular employees "were not meeting the company's elevated expectations." Ouch. Read more

What does the dark web have on you? Google will soon tell you in a free report. Read more